WWE is dealing with the fallout from a positive COVID-19 test within its ranks, shutting down TV tapings for the day in order to test all their staff for the coronavirus, something the company wasn’t doing before. WWE has also responded to a report that came from the Wrestling Observer shortly after the news of the test result broke, that non-staff spectators on last night’s episode of Raw were told not to wear masks.

WWE sent a statement denying the report to Jon Alba of Orlando’s Spectrum News 13. It reads:

Fans have not been in attendance at WWE events since March 13. Yesterday, a select number of friends and family were permitted to attend WWE’s TV production. The individuals were required to participate in medical screenings prior to entering the closed set at our training facilities, and were kept apart from the in-ring performers and production personnel. Attendance was below 20% capacity and social distancing guidelines were adhered to with at least six feet between parties, thus face masks were not required.

That last sentence isn’t entirely true; the Street Profits entered the “audience” on last night’s Raw, temporarily removing the social distancing element of how the spectators were organized. WWE’s statement also implies that if people are six feet apart, there’s no need for them to wear masks in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This doesn’t line up with recommendations from medical experts, who generally advise a combination of social distancing and mask-wearing rather than choosing one or the other.

In their statement, WWE doesn’t mention the reports that spectators had to sign waivers saying they wouldn’t hold the company liable if they contracted the coronavirus, but Alba reports that audience members he spoke to confirmed that they signed these waivers, and that they had their temperatures checked before the show. Alba also says the spectators “didn’t find out about the positive COVID-19 test by a WWE developmental talent until after the tapings.” They were invited to attend more tapings this week, but were not asked to get tested for the coronavirus beforehand.

These friends and family of WWE staff spoken to by Alba also said that “there were sanitizing stations on-site,” they felt safe at the tapings, and that they “would attend again, even after the news of the positive COVID-19 test.”

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The annual tradition of people eating a grotesque number of hot dogs on July 4 will continue this year despite the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs announced on Tuesday that the hot dog eating competition will take place on July 4, still televised on ESPN, but that it will not happen in front of a packed crowd in Coney Island. Rather, it will occur in a private, closed location with just five participants in the men’s and women’s competitions instead of 15. The 12-time reigning, defending champion Joey Chestnut will once again put his mustard belt on the line for the men, while six-time women’s champ Miki Sudo puts the women’s belt up for grabs in the 10-minute competition.

“We’re ecstatic to make the announcement that the Hot Dog-Eating Contest will take place this year,” said James Walker, Nathan’s Famous Senior Vice President, Restaurants, via ABC7 in New York. “2020 has been a year for the history books, and the realization that this storied July 4 tradition would be able to occur, is a great feeling. With that being said, our country and our world has endured so much in the last couple of months, that we’d be remiss if we didn’t use this moment to honor those that have done so much for each of us during this time.”

Typically, the contest takes place in front of a large crowd cheering and offering some much needed background noise, while the emcee of the proceedings shouts out people’s progress and if anyone is on the trail of the legendary Chestnut. This year, however, the broadcast on ESPN has to figure out how to make a fan-less event not sound completely disgusting, as it could be a true ASMR disaster to just have the “sounds of the game,” if you will, of folks housing hot dogs and chugging water/lemonade/etc. to help down the dogs. It’ll be interesting to watch how they work around that or if they just steer into the skid and mic up Chestnut as he chases his record of 74 dogs in silence.

The good news is that the contest will be benefiting some very good and fitting causes, as Nathan’s will provide their customary 100,000 hot dog donation to the Food Bank for New York City, but also using the broadcast to raise funds and awareness for food banks around the country as food insecurity is a massive problem during the pandemic.

Considering most of Hollywood is shut down to the point where even late-night talk shows are still being shot from the hosts’ houses, nobody would be blown away if awards season took a breather for 2020. But as far as the Emmys are concerned, apparently the show must go on.

ABC revealed today that Jimmy Kimmel will host the 72nd Emmy Awards, which is currently set to air on September 20. Considering California is experiencing an uptick in COVID-19 cases, holding the ceremony in anything resembling its standard fashion seems unlikely, and even Kimmel himself has no idea how any of this is going to work.

“I don’t know where we will do this or how we will do this or even why we are doing this, but we are doing it and I am hosting it,” he said in a statement to CNN.

You can read ABC’s full statement below:

“We know Jimmy Kimmel will deliver a uniquely entertaining, funny and moving Primetime Emmys show,” said Karey Burke, president of ABC Entertainment. “He’s a true master of ceremonies who reveres this industry and its people; and just as Jimmy has done with his own show over the past few months, he will tackle this momentous event with heart and humor, and bring some much-needed joy and optimism to our television colleagues and viewers at home.”

The Emmy announcement arrives just one day after the Oscars were delayed three months and its eligibility window was extended into 2021. To be fair, the Oscars have a much larger issue with movie theaters being shut down for an extensive length of time and release dates continuing to be scuttled as a cloud of uncertainty hangs over reopening cinemas. On the opposite end of that spectrum, audiences have been watching more TV than ever thanks to nationwide lockdowns, but that still doesn’t alleviate the logistical concerns of putting together an Emmys award show for September. Let’s see how this works out!

(Via CNN)

Following 2018’s Joy As An Act Of Resistance, Idles are ready for a quick return: The group has announced that their next album is called Ultra Mono, and it’s coming out on September 25. Along with the announcement, they’ve also shared a video for “Grounds,” a confident and swaggering punk single. Frontperson Joe Talbot says of the song:

“We wanted to write a song that embodied self-belief, and gave us self-belief — a counter-punch to all the doubt we build up from all the noise we so easily let in. We wanted to make the sound of our own hearts’ marching band, armed with a jack hammer and a smile. We wanted to make the sound of our engine starting. So we did. Thank you.”

The band has also laid out a roadmap of their planned activities for the next few months. They’ll be releasing videos for new songs “A Hymn,” “Model Village,” “Reigns,” and “War” on July 14, August 11, September 8, and September 25, respectively. They will also be hosting livestream performances on August 29 and 30.

Watch the “Grounds” video above, and find the Ultra Mono art (which is positively superlative) and tracklist below.

1. “War”
2. “Grounds”
3. “Mr. Motivator”
4. “Anxiety”
5. “Kill Them With Kindness”
6. “Model Village”
7. “Ne Touche Pas Moi” Feat. Jehnny Beth
8. “Carcinogenic”
9. “Reigns”
10. “The Lover”
11. “A Hymn”
12. “Danke”

Ultra Mono is out 9/25 via Partisan Records. Pre-order it here.

Phil Elverum, the musician behind the acclaimed early ’00s project The Microphones, has announced he is revamping the project. It’s been seventeen years since The Microphones’ last release, the 2003 record Mount Eerie. Following the record’s release, Elverum assumed the moniker Mount Eerie and began releasing music under that name. But now, Elverum plans to bring The Microphones out of hibernation with an unconventional album.

Titled Microphones In 2020, the upcoming album will consist entirely of one 44-minute song. Alongside the effort, Elverum will share an album-length short film that will be released a day prior to the album’s debut.

In a statement parallel with his album’s announcement, Elverum said he was inspired to reignite his old project after seeing a positive response from fans:

“In the summer of 2019 I played a little local concert under the old name for no big reason. The little flurry of weird attention around this announcement got me thinking about what it even means to step back into an old mode. Self commemoration would be embarrassing. I don’t want to go backwards ever. There is nothing to reunite. So I nudged into the future with these ideas and came up with this large song. It took almost a year to write and record, working constantly at home, digging through the archives, playing the same two chords forever on the same $5 first guitar. In it I have tried to get at the heart of what defined that time in my life, my late teens and early twenties, but even more importantly, I tried to break the spell of nostalgia and make something perennial and enduring. All past selves existing at once in this inferno present moment. The song doesn’t seem to end. That’s the point.

We all crash through life prodded and diverted by our memories. There is a way through to disentanglement. Burn your old notebooks and jump through the smoke. Use the ashes to make a new thing.”

Watch The Microphones’ album teaser above.

Microphones In 2020 is out 8/7 via P. W. Elverum & Sun. Pre-order it here.

FX’s historical drama Snowfall has been widely praised for its authenticity in portraying the events that led up to Los Angeles’ late-80s/early-90s crack cocaine epidemic and was to begin airing its fourth season later this year. However, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, production was suspended, forcing FX to push the show’s next season to 2021. For most of us, this represents a loss in viewing options come Fall TV season. However, for one native of Los Angeles County, it presents an opportunity.

Like the million or so average viewers of the program, it turns out Vince Staples is an avid fan who admires the show’s realism in presenting the crack era through its intersecting narratives of young drug dealers and CIA operatives. But it seems Vince sees something the show is missing: Himself. The wisecracking Long Beach rapper tweeted out a request to be included in the next season of the show and he even threw in a sweetener to highlight his fit for the role. “Man can I be a extra in Snowfall?” he wrote. “Stop playin I’ll bring my own blower & all that.”

The show’s casting director wouldn’t go amiss taking a look at Vince’s growing resume. After appearing in the 2015 coming-of-age comedy Dope, Vince has since been cast in leading roles on Adult Swim’s Lazor Wulf, in the animated action movie MFKZ, and in the upcoming indie road trip move, Punk. He also had a hilarious cameo in Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” video and a pair of episodes of his endlessly entertaining own Vince Staples Show, fighting off assailants and dodging heated exes.

So, Snowfall crew, please take this man up on his request. You’ve got little to lose and a whole lot to gain. Plus, he’ll even bring his own blower, saving the props department some money too.

Hulu and NEON landed the rights to the Andy Samberg- and Cristin Milioti-starring comedy Palm Springs for $17,500,000.69, a Sundance Film Festival record, beating the previous title-holder by 69 cents. Nice. Also nice: the reviews for the movie. Our own Mike Ryan called it “absolutely fantastic,” while Roger Ebert‘s Brian Tallerico added, “A wildly entertaining entry in a genre that is on life support lately, the romantic comedy.”

Directed by Max Barbakow and produced by the Lonely Island, Palm Springs finds Nyles and Sarah, played by the utterly charming Brooklyn Nine-Nine and How I Met Your Mother stars, stuck in a loop on their friends’ wedding day. It’s the “spiritual cousin” of Groundhog Day mixed with the irreverent, silly humor of Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, and unlike most high-concept comedies, it actually looks funny.

Here’s the official plot synopsis.

When carefree Nyles (Andy Samberg) and reluctant maid of honor Sarah (Cristin Milioti) have a chance encounter at a Palm Springs wedding, things get complicated when they find themselves unable to escape the venue, themselves, or each other.

Palm Springs, which also stars J.K. Simmons, Meredith Hagner, Camila Mendes, Tyler Hoechlin, and Peter Gallagher, premieres on Hulu and in select drive-ins on July 10.

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Making the planet just a little cleaner one biodegradable dog poop bag at a time. 🌎

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